Contents

Synopsis

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’sselfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of Metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes – Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg. – it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Plot

Thousands of years ago, Steppenwolf and his legions of Parademons attempted to take over the Earth with the combined energies of three Mother Boxes. They were foiled by a unified army that includes the Olympian Gods, Amazons, Atlanteans, mankind, and the Green Lantern Corps. After repelling Steppenwolf's army, the Mother Boxes were separated and hidden in locations on the planet. In the present, mankind is in mourning over Superman, whose triggers the Mother Boxes to reactivate and Steppenwolf's return to Earth in an effort to regain favor with his master, Darkseid. Steppenwolf aims to gather the artifacts to form "The Unity", which will destroy Earth's ecology and terraform it in the image of Steppenwolf's homeworld

Behind the Scenes

Development

Shortly after filming had finished for Man of Steel, Warner Bros hired Will Beall to script a new Justice League film. Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov explained that Man of Steel would be "setting the tone for what the movies are going to be like going forward. In that, it's definitely the first step." The film included references to the existence of other superheroes in the DC Universe, and setting the tone for a shared fictional universe of DC Comics characters on film. David S. Goyer stated should Green Lantern appear in a future installment, that it would be a rebooted version of the character and not connected to the 2011 film. With the release of Man of Steel in June 2013, Goyer was hired to write a sequel, as well as a new Justice League, with the Beall draft being scrapped. The sequel was later revealed to be Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a team up film featuring Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, and Ray Fisher as Victor Stone / Cyborg in a minor role that will become more significant in leading up to the proposed Justice League film. The universe is separate from Nolan and Goyer's work on The Dark Knight trilogy, although Nolan is still involved as an executive producer for Batman v Superman. In April 2014, it was announced that Zack Snyder would also be directing Goyer's Justice League script. Warner Bros. was reportedly courting Chris Terrio to rewrite Justice League the following July, after having been impressed with his rewrite of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. On October 15, 2014, Warner Bros. announced the film would be released in two parts, with Part One releasing on November 17, 2017, and Part Two on June 14, 2019. Snyder will direct both films. In early July 2015, EW revealed that the script for Justice League Part One had been completed by Terrio.

In April 2014, Ray Fisher was cast as Victor Stone / Cyborg and was set to cameo in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice followed by a larger role in Justice League. Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, and Amy Adams are also expected to reprise their roles from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In October 2014, Jason Momoa was cast as Arthur Curry / Aquaman and debuted as the character in Dawn of Justice. On October 20, 2014, Momoa told ComicBook.com that the Justice League film would be coming first and that is what they were preparing for, and he did not know if the solo Aquaman film would be prior to Justice League or post. He thought it might be the origin of where Aquaman came from. On January 13, 2016, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Amber Heard was in negotiations to appear in the film as Aquaman's love interest Mera. In March 2016, producer Charles Roven said that Green Lantern would not appear in any film before Justice League Part Two, and stated that they "could put Green Lantern in some introduction in Justice League 2, or barring that, a movie after." Also in March, The Hollywood Reporter announced that J. K. Simmons was cast as Commissioner James Gordon, and Heard was confirmed to join the cast as Mera. Adams also confirmed that she would reprise her role as Lois Lane in both Justice League films. The following month, Simmons confirmed that he would play Gordon. By April 2016, Willem Dafoe was cast as Vulko, another Atlantean. Despite the death of his character in Dawn of Justice, Cavill confirmed that he would return for both Justice League films. In May 2016, Jeremy Irons confirmed he will appear as Alfred Pennyworth. That same month, Jesse Eisenberg stated that he would reprise his role as Lex Luthor.

Filming

In July 2015, it was revealed that filming would begin in spring 2016 after Wonder Woman wrapped principal photography. Principal photography on Justice League commenced on April 11, 2016, with shooting taking place at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, as well as various locations around London, and in Iceland. Snyder's longtime cinematographer Larry Fong was replaced by Fabian Wagner due to scheduling conflicts. Affleck was also revealed to be serving as executive producer. In May 2016, it was revealed that Geoff Johns and Jon Berg will be producing the Justice League films and they will also be in charge of the DC Extended Universe after the fallout of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Geoff Johns confirmed on June 4, 2016, that the title of the film is Justice League an on that same month, Irons stated that the Justice League storyline will be more linear and simple, in comparison to the theatrical version of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Amber Heard arrived on set for a costume fitting on June 26th, 2016 after having to reschedule for personal issues with her public divorce case. At the beginning of August 2016, Heard started filming her scenes as Mera with Momoa and trained together to get her in shape for the role. On October 1, 2016, after filming mostly in London, the cast and crew moved to Djúpavík, Iceland to film the rest of Justice League in October. Filming officially wrapped on October 14th, 2016. Due to a family tragedy, Snyder decided to step down from post-production of Justice League to be with his family, instead, Snyder brought Joss Whedon to finish the film for him as well as finish the re-shoots and write additional scenes he wanted for Justice League. [1]

Critical Reaction

Novelization

Trivia

Justice League is set to release on the 25th anniversary of The Death of Superman comic, when it was released November 17th, 1992. as well as the 16th anniversary of the Bruce Timm and Paul Dini Justice League Animated Series which premiered it's the first episode back on November 17th, 2001,